Deals

Independence Day weekend is known for great shopping deals. But did you know you can find big savings at restaurants as well? Several popular restaurant deal websites are offering even bigger discounts over the next five days. So if you plan on dining out, you definitely want to check out these deals first! We’ll update the list as more are announced over the weekend.

Mother’s day is right around the corner. If you are like the average person, you probably haven’t planned much yet. Lucky for you, we at Cravor can help with what we do best – making dining plans on a budget. Mother’s day is typically the most popular day of the year for dining out so plan early to make sure your mother doesn’t get left out!

Cravor specializes in dining deals & coupons so we’ve provided our lists of top restaurants for mother’s day by city – all of which are offering a deal, discount or or some other promotion. Not only will your mother be thankful, she will be proud she raised someone so economically savvy.

If you are like most people, you probably have a handful of restaurants that you frequent. But how often do you check to see if they are offering deals or coupons? Websites like Groupon and Living Social sometimes offer dinning deals that last just 24 hours so they can be very easy to miss. You have a life to live and its just not feasible to look for these deals every day. Lucky for you we live in an age where technology can do the work for us.

Setting up an email notification takes less than a minute. Just go to cravor.com and search for a restaurant by entering the restaurant’s name and location (any city of zip code near the restaurant will work) in the top search bar. Once you find the restaurant, enter your email address where it says “Get notified” and you are all set! You won’t believe all the savings you’ve been missing!

Did you know you can save at local restaurants on Cyber Monday? Smart diners pre-purchase discounted gift certificates at their favorite restaurants that can be redeemed the next time they dine. Some of the most popular local deal sites are offering their biggest sales of the year this Cyber Monday.

In the past year, I’ve earned several thousand airline miles and hotel points by dining at the same restaurants I always have. I don’t mean credit card rewards points; I’ve earned those in addition. How did I do it? With one of my favorite but least known restaurant deal sites: Rewards Network.

What is Rewards Network?

Rewards Network is a website that rewards users for dining at participating restaurants by offering points or miles. They allow you to choose the type of rewards to earn from popular rewards programs like American AAdvantage miles, Hilton HHonors points, Delta Skymiles, and many more.

They have a network of more than 11,000 restaurants across the United States. The restaurants also include select locations for many popular chains.

Chain

Eligible Restaurants

Edible Arrangements

106

Wendy’s

95

Buca di Beppo

87

Jack in the Box

78

Hungry Howie's

64

Lone Star Steakhouse

61

Dickey's Barbecue Pit

59

Burger King

55

Johnny Rockets

44

Denny's

39

Pizza Hut

31

Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse

30

How it Works

Rewards Network provides separate websites for each rewards program where you can sign up and search for eligible restaurants. You get rewarded each time you dine at a participating restaurant.

You earn points or miles based on how much you spend at the restaurant. Say you are registered for Delta SkyMiles Dining and you are earning 5 miles per dollar spent. If your bill comes out to $54, you would end up earning 270 miles total (54 x 5). You earn rewards based on the final bill amount including any tax and tip.

Best of all, you don’t need to tell the restaurant you are a Rewards Network member or give them any type of rewards card. Rewards Network automatically credits your rewards account when you use your registered credit card at a participating restaurant.

How to Register

It’s easy to get started with Rewards Network. Just register and you’ll start automatically earning rewards. Follow these simple steps to get setup.

1. Choose the rewards you want to earn

First, you want to decide on a rewards program. Review the list of programs in the table below and find the one that makes the most sense for you.

2. Register for the rewards program

You have to be registered for the rewards program first, before you register for dining rewards. So if you are not a member yet, you will need to register and make a note of your membership number.

3. Register on the rewards program’s dining website

To start earning rewards for dining, go to the Rewards Network website for that particular rewards program and click the Sign Up link (links to each dining website are provided in the table below). You will need to enter your name, address, email address, and your membership number for the rewards program. You will also be asked to opt in for email alerts. If you do, you will earn more points or miles each time you dine (although some programs will force you to opt in for emails to receive any rewards).

4. Register your credit or debit card(s) on the site

Once registered, you will need to enter at least one credit or debit card to start earning rewards. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged anything. When you dine at a participating restaurant and use your registered card, Rewards Network will automatically be notified about your dine. Be sure to register all your cards because if you use a non registered card you get nothing!

5. Find restaurants near you

Each rewards program’s dining site offers a search to find restaurants eligible for rewards near you. However, some restaurants only offer rewards on certain days, so be sure to double check what days are eligible. All rewards programs have the same restaurants in the network so it does not matter which one you use to search.

6. Dine!

Go, eat, and enjoy! And be sure to use your registered credit or debit card! Typically the points or miles will show up in your account in 5-7 days.

Membership Levels

As you can see from the table above, the amount you earn may vary pending on your membership level within the program. Most of the dining programs have 3 membership levels:

Member: Basic membership when you do not opt in for email notifications.

Online Member: Membership when you do opt in for email notifications.

VIP Member: Membership received after you have 12 or more eligible dines in the calendar year and you have opted in for email notifications.

There are a few exceptions, like Orbitz, Plenti and Southwest that have just a single level, while JetBlue has just two levels. Be sure to check the dining program’s website for the specifics.

Sign Up Bonuses

Most of the dining rewards programs have a sign up bonus. Each may have slightly different terms, but they typically offer you additional points or miles after your first dine of $30 or more at a participating restaurant within 30 days of signing up. Some rewards programs offer additional bonuses for the second or third dine or for writing a review for the restaurant you visited. Each program’s sign up bonus terms are clearly stated on their website.

Maximize Your Earnings

Here are a few tips I’ve learned after being a Rewards Network member for several years:

1. Earn as many different sign up bonuses as possible

Many of the programs offer lucrative bonuses where you can earn extra points/miles after your first dine. There’s nothing stopping you from earning bonuses from more than one program, so try doing one dine in each of the rewards programs that you are interested in.

2. Register all of your cards

You can register as many credit or debit cards as you want. So don’t miss out by accidentally using a non registered card when you dine. You can also register different cards for different rewards programs if you want to diversify the rewards you earn. Just make sure you don’t register the same card at more than one program or else you won’t earn any rewards.

3. Elect to receive emails

Most programs offer you more rewards if you opt in to receive email notifications. While you may be hesitant to receive additional emails, it’s not that bad. You typically receive one email per week summarizing the restaurants in your area eligible for rewards.

4. Write reviews when promotions are offered

Sometimes programs offer you bonus rewards if you write a review for one of your dining visits. The reviews only take a couple of minutes and are a nice way to earn a few more points or miles. Keep an eye on your email for these promotions.

5. Use a credit card that gives you cash back

One of my favorite things about Rewards Network is that you earn these rewards in addition to your typical credit card rewards so you can double dip. Find the credit card that gives you the most points or cash back on dining and make that the card you always use.

6. Use Cravor to find restaurants eligible for points and other savings

Sometimes the hardest part about being on a food budget is going out to eat with friends. You don’t want dampen the mood by discussing how much you can spend (and then concluding that it will only get you half an appetizer and some ice water). So I discovered that this is one great time to use a restaurant deal. The benefits are twofold: you get to stay on budget and your friends get to save some money too!

Here’s an example from this week. Two friends and I decided to go out to lunch. We knew which area we wanted to go, so I checked out some nearby restaurant deals. I found a great sandwich place with a mouth-watering name – Daily Melt Grill – and a wallet-friendly deal! Pay $12 for $20 worth of sandwiches. Perfect for the three of us. Our total came to $21 (but we only paid $13), then we split the $13 three ways = $4.33/person… for delicious, melty, yummy goodness.

I could get used to dining for less. In fact, I’m going to find my next deal right now. Until next time…

In one week, I spent $159 on food. I spent the least amount of money on fast food (10%). I guess that’s a good thing because I’ve heard it’s not all that healthy (ha). It’s also cheap, so it makes sense that fast food comprises the smallest category of my spending.

Next came supermarket spending (23%). Going forward, I’d like to see a higher percent spent on cost-efficient supermarket shopping than on restaurants and convenience stores.

At convenience stores you pay for just that – convenience. I’m sure this category (25%) was made up of my least cost-efficient choices. Finally, restaurants take first place in my spending experiment at 42% of my weekly food food budget (or lack thereof)! This probably has a lot to do with the higher cost of restaurant meals in general, combined with the need to tip, and perhaps my frequenting them too often.

But what’s a foodie to do? I won’t give up dining out. Homemade is great, but it doesn’t eliminate the need (ok, desire) for professionally prepared and served meals. Restaurant coupons and discounts are out there, but often hard to find right when you need them and where you need them. Websites like cravor.com make it easier. For instance, instead of paying full price two nights ago at Cheesecake Factory, I could have had Cravor search the web for deals at this chain.

So, that’s one of my goals: use more restaurant deals. Another goal is to cook more and become supermarket savvy. Over the next few weeks I’ll work on revamping my spending habits. I’ll check in with stories, recipes, and tips for dining for less. One thing I know is: I’m going to keep craving, but hopefully I’ll start saving! See you soon…